Solvent and monqmer recovery



April 12, 1966 .1.J. MooN ETAL SOLVENT AND MONOMER RECOVERY April 12,1966 J. J. MOON r-:TAL

SOLVENT AND MONOMER RCOVERY 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Nov. 6, 1961 UnitedStates Patent Ofiice 3,245,967 SOLVENT AND MNOMER RECOVERY John J. Moonand Graham A. Renberg, both of Bartlesville, Okla., assignors toPhillips Petroleum Company,

a corporation of Delaware Filed Nov. 6, 1961, Ser. No. 150,459

9 Claims. (Cl. 260- -.88.2)

This invention relates to an improved recovery of solvent in t-hepolymerization of a polymerizable monomer. In one of its aspects, theinvention provides a combination of steps including the flashing ofsolvent, recovery of vapors, and utilization of heat in the vapors toaid in the drying and/ or in the flashing of said solvent. f-

In the polymerization of oleli-ns, as in the polymeriza-Y tion ofethylene alone, or in conjunction with butene, as when preparing a solidpolyoleiinor plastic-material, the reaction or polymerization isconducted in one type of operation exemplified by U.S. Patent25,825,721, Hogan and Banks, issued March 4, 1958, in the presence of asolvent. Thus, there cari be subjected to the action of a -gmixture is4then condensed.

butene-l is added and the total liquid stream is then lfeed topa4 third,flash vessel ofja series of three flash vespumped to reactor pressureand passed over alumina beds to renueve,l poisons, andthe liquid mixturepassed to the reactorsfforpolymerizations inthe presence. of catalyst.

.- -In another' embodiment of the invention, non-vaporized liquid from asingle` flash step'is vpassed to a strip-y per to which the, overheadvapors from a polymer removal column are passed. Certain advantagesaccrue in this embodiment -which 'basically is otherwise like the iirst;embodiment,herein'mentioned catalyst such as described in said patent,ethyleneand butene-l, in a solvent, say,v a-mixture of hexane andcyclohexane. tion step, the polymer-containing solvent is flashed torecover unreacted monomer, catalyst, polymerl and soluble polymerdissolved in some solvent. The solvent must be treated prior to reuse.In the treatment of they solvent, usually by fractionation, impuritiessuch as Water, inert light hydrocarbons and small quantities ofsolventsoluble polymers must be removed.

.In .prior art processes for carrying out the solvent pur. ilicationstep, it has been conventional to revaporize the bulk of t-he solvent toeffect the purification. The vaporized solvent is then condensed andcycled to the reactor. In prior art processes, the heat of condensationhas been rejected to the atmosphere.

It has now been conceived by us that considerable heat of condensationcan be saved and compression requirements lsubstantially reduced byusing vaporized solf4 vent as heat exchange medium in a solvent-dryingstep. and as a stripping medium in the fishing of the reactor effluent.Unreacted monomer or monomers are thus recovered in 'a manner such thatupon condensation of the vapors resulting from the flashing of thereactor eiiiuent, the monomers can be recycled to the reactor as asolution of monomer or monomers in the solvent which isl recycled as aliquid. A

In a prior process, the solvent purification system comprises a polymerremoval column and a drying column operated in series in the here statedorder. The polymer removal column removes soluble polymer as a bottomsstream and solvent, water, and light materials as an overhead stream. Inthe drying column, pure solvent is re- -rnoved as a bottoms product.Overhead from the drying column consists essentially of water, smallamounts of solvent and inert light hydrocarbons. The light inerts arevented, Water is separated' out and solvent passed to a solvent recoveryaccumulator.

We have now found that considerable improvement in the solventpurification process is obtained if the order of these two columnsis'reversed, that is, the degassingcolumn is rst in the series. Byoperating in this manner, a portion of the overhead vapors from thepolymer removal-column may be used to reboil the dryingl'column.y Theresulting condensate is then used as reiiux in the` polymer removalcolumn. The remaining portion of polymer removal column overhead vaporsis passed to the monomer ash step where they aid in flashing nnte--acted monomer from the polymer solution. Specifically, inone embodiment,overhead vapors are passed to the Upon termination of the polymerization-reac- The above-describedA process is. particularly applicable to theproduction of ethylene-butene-l copolymers. The processl is, in general,applicable to'any solution polymerization process iu which it isdesirable to recover unreacted monomers and to purify solvent.

By virtue of our process, which combines the monomer recovery andsolvent purification steps in a solution polymerization process,considerable economy is effected as a result of lower compression costs,lower energy requirements and improved processing sequences.

An 'Object off the present invention i's to provide an improved solventand monomer recovery. Another object of the invention is to provide animproved process for the polymerization of at least one 1olefin in theproduction of so-called low pressure polyoleiin. Another of its objectsis to provide a novel combination of steps in the solvent and polymerrecovery in a polyolefin-producing process permitting t-he recovery ofunreacted monomer as a solution in solvent, heat savings, and reducedcompression costs.

Other aspects, objects and the several advantages of this invention areapparent from a study of this disclosure, the drawing and. the appendedclaims.

According to the present invention, broadly, the eiiiguellt IQIXI aPQIYQlCrI. reactor is aslied in at least one flashing step,polymer-containing solvent is separated from catalyst, solid polymer isseparated from the solvent and dissolved soluble polymer, as well asimpurities, etc., and the solvent containing the dissolved polymer, etc.is relieved of gases such as light hydrocarbons, e.g., methane, ethane,etc. and Water vapor, following which the solvent is passed to asolvent-recovery or polymer removal in which the solvent is recovered asa vapor and thus separated from the soluble polymer; then at least aportion of the solvent vapors is used to provide heat required inrelieving the solvent of said gases and water vapor and another portionof said vapors is used in this flashing step.

vFIGURE 1 ofY the drawing shows the overall embodiment of the inventionin which three ash vessels are used. FIGURE 2 is a modification oftheoperation of FIGURE Y 1 in which vonly a single flash vessel and astripper are -used in lieu of the three flash vessels, earliermentioned.

.Referring now to FIGURE l of the drawing, 1 is a polyoletin reactor inwhich, in they example now given, ethylene and hntene-lv are subjectedto the polymerizing action of a catalyst containing .chromium oxide, atleast l part-of which, is 'iu the h eXav'alent state, which is rknown fas a catalyst for polymerizing 1-.oleiins and is more fully described insaid Patent 2,825,721. The olefins are po- Patented Apr. 12, 196.6

lymerized in reactor 1 in the presence of solvent, in this case, -amixture of hexane and cyclohexane. After the reaction, the reaction masspasses by 2 to ash vessel 3 wherein vapors formed .are separated fromthe liquid solbottoms 3S, which are reboiled at 39, are removed as aconcentrated soluble polymer in solvent. Overhead solvent vapors 37 inthis embodiment are sent, in part by 40 to Iboiler 31 and returned by 41as redux for tower vent-containing catalyst, polymer, etc. and passed by4 5 36, thus providing reflux from the hea-ting agent delivered throughcooler 5 into receiver 6. From receiver 6, the to 31, and, in part, by42a to aid in flashing vapors in flash condensed solvent, vapors andmonomers in them ,are revessel 19. Any excess vapor passes by 43 into 9.Some cycled by 48 and treaters 49 to the reactor. Non-vaporliquid puriedsolvent 1s taken oi 'at 41a and 1s returned ized liquid passes from 3 by7 into a second flash vessel 8, by pipes, not shown, to the solventstorage in the system, overhead from which passes by 9 and cooler 10into liquid 10 also not shown. Fresh butene-l is fed to the System atseparator 11. Vapors from 11 are passed by 12 and corn- 44. Ethylene isfed at 4S and catalyst at 46. Make-up pressed by 13 into 4 and treatedfurther together with the Solventis fed to the system at 47. vapors in4, At leastaportion of liquid from 11 is passed It will be noticed byone Skilled 111 the aft havlng by pump 15, and une 16 to Vessel 3 asredux, the remainstudied this embodiment `of the invention that the heating liquid not used as reflux being passed by 14 to 4. A 15 input of thetwo towers is by way of the soluble polymersportion of the reflux isalso passed by 17 to vessel 8. removal tower and that the reversal ofthe functions of Liquid from vessel 8 is passed by 18 to a third flashvessel the two described towers permits, in one operation, the 19,overhead from which is returned to vessel 8 for retreat- Sal/IESS 0fheat and VaPUlS 111 37, the Pmi/151011 0f heat ment therein, the returnbeing by way of 20, while liquid l0 31 t0 llegas the Solvent, and the60011113 1H 31 'l0 PfOVld@ bottoms, which are considerably depleted ofhydrocarbon 20 a reflex fOr E09/er 36. such as ethylene, ethane,butene-l and other Crs, but The OHOYVlUg 'fables glV the COldllOIlS andanalyses which `Contain Solvent, polymer and catalyst, -are passed ofthe principal locations and streams, respectively, in the -by 21 tocatalyst removal 22 and by 23 to solvent removal y embodiment JUSdBSCflbEd- 24, at which place the desired polymer is separated at 25.

Condztions Solvent still containing hydrocarbons and soluble polymer 25passes by 26 to feed tank 27 and by 28 to tower 29, overhead frorriwhich contains water vapor and light hydro- Temperaturey F PressureD-S--a. carbons. The tower is heated with hot vapors obtained, as laterdescribed by means of indirect heat exchanger 31, lgflovfeS-l- 43g hereshown as the reboiler heatingthe bottoms 32 of 30 Flash vessels: 242 360the tower. This tower is reuxed with condensate from gllrvel 19 272 70vapors which pass through cooler 31a into vented lTop; 210 5 accumulator82. The reflux is passed from 82 by 33 Towfgtm 245 l 4 and pump 34. Thesolvent now containing essentially Top; u 290 only soluble polymerspasses by pump 35 into tower 35 35 BOttOm 300 l 80 wherein solventvapors taken ott overhead by 37 and Stream compositions Material BalanceFresh Fresh Recycle Reactor Primary Primary Tertiary Secondary SecondaryLB SD ethylene butene liquid to etiiuent flash flash flash flash flash0.9 Stream Factor reactors vapor liquid vapor vapor liquid Stream No T44 4S 2 4 7 20 9 18 Methane 17 9 945 425 541 i4 560 15 Ethylene 116, 63462,546 63, 700 25, 950 39, 150 1, 764 40,336 1, 932 Ethane 151 8,309 8,460 ,450 5, 202 220 3 241 Butene-i 2,672 14,456 12,936 1,596 12,2503,276 12,038 4,369 other Cis 10 3,150 3,150 336 3, 053 347 3,197 435Hexane- 522, 070 544, 430 21, s 570, 670 319, 490 364, 702 571, 900Cyciohexanp 518, 810 544, 430 17, 724 574, 796 268, 800 329, 005 561,Polymer- 117, 000 117, 000 117,000 Catalyst. 2 2 234 Total 116,802 2,7721,130,269 1, 295, 235 71, 239 1,322,896 593,911 755,205 1, 257, 245G.p.m. (60 F.) 131 137 152 145 Material Balance Tertiary flash SecondaryCombined LB SD stripping Tertiary flash Solvent vapor Purified dashSeparator hash OHD Total flas 0.9 Stream Factor solvent liquid bypasssolvent vapor selarztor hash liquid vapor OVHD Stream No 42 21 43 37 9a14 4a 6 Methan 560 255 714 928 Ethylene 40, 336 17, 222 48, 078 62, 546Ethan@ 5, 367 3 6, 320 8, 309 ButeneL- 12, 038 11, 19s 2, 376 11,784other Ors 3,197 2, 946 575 3, 050 Hexane 370,230 622,640 152,112 523,314595,562 590,562 25, 948 522,070 Cycioiiexane- 429, 660 721, 980 176, 132606, 920 596, 323 591, 673 2i, 756 51s, 810 Polymer 117, 000 CatalystTota1 799, 890 1, 463, 224 32s, 244 1, 130, 234 1, 253, 383 1, 216, 223105, 767 1, 127, 497 G.p.m. (60 F.) 92 169 141 Streamcomposzz'o11s-Continuedv Redux to Drying Polymer Polymer Drying PolymerPuriiled Wet Material BalanceA Drying Drying LB/SD column drying columncolumn removal column column column solvent polymer Dry 0.9 StreamFactor feed column overhead bottoms col, feed reflux reboiling bottomsliquid from to dryer poly-mer vapor column from 324,029 1, 533,4231,375,842 393,141 035,079 3, 070 242, 53s 165, 857 117, 509 G pmimr.)177 158 .s

Referring now to FIGURE 2, wherein identi-cal num- 1bering with that ofFIGURE 1 has been employed as far as possible, a single stripping vesselis substituted for the second and third stage iiashv vessels of FIGUREl.

In this embodiment non-vaporized'liquid passes from 3 via line 7 tostripping vessel 50, overhead from which passes by 9 and coolerJ 10 intoliquid separator 11. A portion of liquid from 1,1 is passed by 14, pumpand line 16 to flash vessel 3-as reflux. The remaining portion of liquidfrom vessel 11 passes pia line 17 to stripper 50 wherein it isy used .asreiiux. Overhead vapors from column 36 pass via lines 42a and 4 2 intothe bottom of stripper 50l wherein said vaporsv are utilized as astripping medium.

This embodiment has the advantage of requiring less equipment thusreducing investment and operating costs.

The flows of the various streams in this embodiment are essentiallythesame as for the embodiment described in. connection with FIGURE 1,. Forexample, stripper 50 will receive the s ame amount of stripping vaporsfrom column 36 as flash vessel 19 receives in FIGURE l. Reilux tostripper 50 will -be at the same rate as redux to ilash vessel 8 inFIGURE 1.

Stripper 50 is a 6 ft. diameter columnfoperated at 70 p.s.i.a., a toptemperature ofI 255 F.v and a bottom tema perature of 275 F. Thestripper is a packed column containing 15 ft. of conventional packingmaterials.

It is also within the scope of this invention to pass the polymerizationreactor efuent directly to a stripping vessel to which overhead vaporsfrom a polymer removal column are passed, said overhead vapors acting asan aid in stripping unreacted monomers from the polymerizationefliuent.`

Reasonable variation and modification are possible within the scope ofthe foregoing disclosure, the drawing, and the appended claims to theinvention, 4the essence of which is that by reversing the functions ofthe drying and polymer-removing columns, vapors from the polymerremovalvcolumn can be usednot only for heating the drying column and thus alsoproviding reflux for the polymer removal column, but also for ilashingthe Areacted stream from the polyoleiin reactor, substantially asdescribed.

We claim:

1,. In the recovery of a monomer, polymer and solvent from a solution ofthe monomer and polymer in said solvent which comprises passing saidsolution into a iiashing zone, therein subjecting said solution toflashing conditions and to the stripping action of hot solvent vaporobtained ash hereinafter described, recovering a Vapor stream-containingsolvent and any substantially unpolymerized monomer, removing andcondensing said vapor stream, passing a first liquid stream, thusobtained, to a drying zone, in said drying zone, indirectly heating saidrst liquid stream using heat obtained as hereinafter described,obtaining in, and removing from, said drying zone, water and lighthydrocarbon vapors not removed from said solution in said flashing zone,withdrawing from said drying zone a second liquid stream containingsolvent and soluble polymer therein, passing said second liquid streaminto a heated distillation zone, in said heated disstillation zone,distilling, separating and recovering solvent vapor frorn said solublepolymer, passing a portion of said solvent vapor into indirect heatexchange with said first liquid stream in said drying zone, returningthe thus,- employed portion of solvent vapor, now cooled, to saiddistillation zone, and passing another portion of said solvent vaporinto said iiasning zone as said hot solvent vapor to provide thereinsaid stripping action.y

2. In the production of a polyoleiin by a solution polymerization inwhich an oleiin is polymerized in a solvent and in which there ispracticed a recovery which comprises passing said solution of the olefinand polymer formed in saidsolvent into a iiashing zone, therein,subjecting said solution to iiashing conditions and to the strippingaction of hot solvent vapor obtained as hereinafterA described,recovering the vapor stream-containing solvent and substantiallyYunpolymerized monomer, removing and condensing said Vapor stream,passing a liquid stream, thus obtained, to a drying zone, in said dryingzone, heating said liquid stream using heat obtained as hereinafterdescribed, obtaining in, and removing from, said drying zone, water andlight hydrocarbon vapors not removed n from said solution in saidflashing zone, removing from said drying zone liquid containing solventand soluble polymer therein, passing said liquid into a heated distillation zone, in said heated distillation zone, distilling, separating andrecovering solvent vapor from said soluble polymer, passing a portion ofsolvent vapor into heat exchange with said liquid in said drying zone,and passing another portion of said solvent vapor into said iiash-l ingzone as said hot solvent vapor to provide therein said stripping action.p

3. In the production of a solid polyoleiin from at least oney 1oleiinhaving 1*8 carbon atoms, a recovery according to claim 2 hereof.

4. In the recovery of a monomer, polymer and solvent from a solution ofthe monomer and polymer in said solvent which comprises passing saidsolution into a flashing zone, recovering a vapor stream containingsolvent and any substantially unpolymerized monomer, removing andcondensing said vapor stream, passing a liquid stream obtained from theflashing zone intoa stripping zone, passing liquid obtained from saidstripping zone to a drying zone, in said drying zone indirectly heatingsaid stream obtained from said stripping zone using heat obtained ashereinafter described, obtaining in, and removing from said drying zone,water and light hydrocarbon vapors not removed from said solution insaid flashing and stripping zones, withdrawing from said drying zone abottoms product containing solvent and soluble polymer therein, passingsaid bottoms product into a heated distillation zone, in said heateddistillation zone, distilling, separating and recoverng solvent vaporfrom said soluble polymer,

7 passing a portion of said solvent vapor into indirect heat exchangewith said drying zone bottoms product and passing another portion ofsaid solvent vapor into said stripping zone as a hot solvent vapor toprovide stripping action in said stripping zone.

5. In the recovery of a monomer, polymer and solvent from a solution ofthe monomer and polymer in said solvent which comprises:

(a) passing said solution to a liquid-vapor separation zone, obtaining aliquid containing solvent and dissolved soluble polymer and a vaporwhich are removed separately from said zone,

(b) passing said liquid into a drying zone,

(c) removing in said drying zone from said liquid some vapor not removedin said liquid-vapor zone,

(d) removing from said drying zone a liquid containing solvent anddissolved soluble polymer,

(e) passing said liquid containing solvent and dissolved soluble polymerinto a heated polymer removal zone,

(f) in said heated polymer removal zone separating and obtaining solventvapor from said liquid containing solvent and said dissolved solublepolymer, forming a kettle product essentially containing said dissolvedsoluble polymer now removed from the solvent,

(g) removing said polymer from said heated polymer removal zone,

(h) passing a portion of said solvent vapor into heat exchange withliquid in said drying zone, and

(i) passing another portion of said solvent vapor into said liquid-vaporzone to assist in the liquid-vapor separation action in saidliquid-vapor separation zone.

6. A recovery as in claim wherein the solution of said monomer andpolymer in said solvent is obtained from a polymerization of a 1oleiinhaving 1-8 carbon atoms.

7. ln the production of a polyolen by a solution polymerization in whichan olen is polymerized in a solvent and in which there is practiced arecovery which comprises passing said solution of the olen and polymerformed in said solvent into a flashing zone, therein subjecting saidsolution to ilashing conditions and to the stripping action of hotsolvent vapor obtained as hereinafter described, recovering the vaporstream-containing solvent and substantially unpolymerized monomer,removing and condensing said vapor stream, passing a liquid stream, thusobtained, to a drying zone, in said drying zone, heating said liquidstream using heat obtained as hereinafter described, obtaining in, andremoving from, said drying zone, Water and light hydrocarbon vapors notremoved from said solution in said flashing zone, removing from saiddrying zone liquid containing solvent and soluble polymer therein,passing said liquid into a heated distillation zone, in said heateddistillation zone, distilling, separating and recovering solvent vaporfrom said soluble polymer, passing a portion of solvent vapor into heatexchange with the said liquid in said drying zone, and passing anotherportion of said solvent vapor into said flashing zone as said hotsolvent vapor to provide therein said stripping action.

8. In the production of a polyolen by a solution polymerization in whichan olen is polymerized in a solvent and in which there is practiced arecovery which comprises passing said solution of the olen and polymerformed in said solvent into a flashing zone, therein subjecting saidsolution to flashing conditions and to the stripping action of hotsolvent vapor obtained as hereinafter described,

recovering the vapor stream-containing solvent and substantiallyunpolymerized monomer, removing and condensing said vapor stream,passing a liquid stream, thus obtained, to a drying zone, in said dryingzone, heating said liquid stream using heat obtained as hereinafterdescribed, obtaining in, and removing from said drying zone, Water andlight hydrocarbon vapors not removed from said solution in said flashingzone, removing from said drying zone liquid containing solvent andsoluble polymer therein, passing said liquid into a heated distillationzone, in said heated distillation zone, distilling, separating andrecovering solvent vapor from said soluble polymer, passing a portion ofsolvent vapor into heat exchange with the said liquid in said dryingzone, thus heating the liquid in said drying zone and condensing atleast a portion of said solvent vapor, returning at least a part of thenow condensed solvent vapor to said distillation zone asta refluxtherefor, and passing another portion of said solvent vapor into saidilashing zone as said hot solvent vapor to provide therein saidstripping action.

9. In the recovery of a monomer, polymer and solvent from a solution ofthe monomer and polymer in said solvent which comprises:

(a) passing said solution to a liquid-vapor separation zone, obtaining aliquid containing solvent and dissolved soluble polymer, and a vaporwhich are removed separately from said zone,

(b) passing said liquid into a drying zone,

(c) removing from said drying zone some vapors not removed in saidliquid-vapor separation zone,

(d) removing from said drying zone a liquid containing solvent anddissolved soluble polymer,

(e) passing said liquid containing solvent and dissolved soluble polymerinto a heated polymer removal zone,

(f) in said heated polymer removal zone separating and obtaining solventvapor from said liquid containing solvent and dissolved soluble polymer,forming a kettle product essentially containing said dissolved solublepolymer now removed from the solvent,

(g) removing said polymer from said heated polymer removal zone,

(h) passing a portion of said solvent vapor into heat exchange withliquid in said drying zone, thus heating the liquid in said drying zoneand condensing at least a portion of said solvent vapor, returning atleast a part of the now condensed solvent to said heated polymer removalzone as a reux therefor, and

(i) passing another portion of said solvent vapor into said liquid-vaporseparation zone to assist in the liquid-vapor separation action in saidliquid-vapor separation zone.

References Cited by the Examiner UNITED STATES PATENTS Henderson260-94.9

OTHER REFERENCES McCabe and Smith: Unit Operations of ChemicalEngineering, (p. 565) (1956).

JOSEPH L. SCHOFER, Primary Examiner.l

1. IN THE RECOVERY OF A MONOMER, A POLYMER AND SOLVENT FROM A SOLUTIONOF THE MONOMER AND POLYMER IN SAID SOLVENT WHICH COMPRISES PASSING SAIDSOLUTION INTO A FLASHING ZONE, THEREIN SUBJECTING SAID SOLUTION TOFLASHING CONDITIONS AND TO THE STRIPPING ACTION OF HOT SOLVENT VAPOROBTAINED ASH HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED, RECOVERING A VAPOR STREAM-CONTAININGSOLVENT AND ANY SUBSTANTIALLY UNPOLYMERIZED MONOMER, REMOVING ANDCONDENSING SAID VAPOR STREAM, PASSING A FIRST LIQUID STREAM, THUSOBTAINED, TO A DRYING ZONE, IN SAID DRYING ZONE, INDIRECTLY HEATING SAIDFIRST LIQUID STREAM USING HEAT OBTAINED AS HEREINAFTER DESCRIBED,OBTAINING IN, AND REMOVING FROM, SAID DRYING ZONE, WATER AND LIGHTHYDROCARBON VAPORS NOT REMOVED FROM SAID SOLUTION IN SAID FLASHING ZONE,WITHDRAWING FROM SAID DRYING ZONE A SECOND LIQUID STREAM CONTAININGSOLVENT AND SOLUBLE POLYMER THEREIN, PASSING SAID SECOND LIQUID STREAMINTO A HEATED DISTILLATION ZONE, IN SAID HEATED DISSTILLATION ZONE,DISTILLING, SEPARATING AND RECOVERING SOLVENT VAPOR FROM SAID SOLUBLEPOLYMER, PASSING A PORTION OF SAID SOLVENT VAPOR INTO INDIRECT HEATEXCHANGE WITH SAID FIRST LIQUID STREAM IN SAID DRYING ZONE, RETURNINGTHE THUSEMPLOYED PORTION OF SOLVENT VAPOR, NOW COOLED, TO SAIDDISTILLATION ZONE, AND PASSING ANOTHER PORTION OF SAID SOLVENT VAPORINTO SAID FLASHING ZONE AS SAID HOT SOLVENT VAPOR TO PROVIDE THEREINSAID STRIPPING ACTION.